The Team Fortress 2 Proposal: One Small Leap Year For Taryn and Derek

In game proposals are quite common nowadays, and we’ve seen a fair few extreme ones — mods, LittleBigPlanet levels, elaborate Minecraft contraptions. But this Wednesday was a leap year, and you know what that means — women have a short window of opportunity to propose to their boyfriends!

Taryn Hicks was a woman who took full advantage of this loophole, proposing to boyfriend Derek during a game of Team Fortress 2.

“Some back story,” says Taryn, on her Tumblr. “A few months ago, I decided that I might propose to Derek, and so I spoke to a friend about it and he encouraged me to go ahead with it. I was just going to book a restaurant, and get down on bended knee and stuff, but my friend pointed out that an item — the Something Special for Someone Special — had been slipped into the Christmas update. From all available information at the time, this item was uncraftable, so I did what any girl would: I emailed Gabe Newell.”

A few weeks later Taryn received an email from Valve Software, and was informed that someone was ‘working on it’. Shortly afterwards she received the ring.

Then it began.

“On the day,” continues Taryn, “I told Derek to meet me at a café near my work, and we connected to the Internode wireless hotspot there, and then to our private server, which was filled with all our TF2-playing friends and family. We played for a while, and then I tried to initiate a Trade request. Which he rejected. Repeatedly.

The trade request would enable Taryn to give the ring to Derek in games. But according to Taryn the conversation went a little like this…

“Derek, you don’t need to answer right now,” said Taryn, “but… will you marry me?”

More silence.

Derek, obviously in a complete state of shock and awe, didn’t answer right away — but later he gave his answer.

“At the restaurant, about an hour later, he said yes,” wrote Taryn. “So yeah, we’re getting married!”

Congratulations to both Taryn and Derek — but massive kudos must go to Taryn for having the brass bananas to propose to her boyfriend, and in such dramatic fashion. Good luck you guys, and make sure your wedding has plenty of hats.

He initially thought I had! But yes, Matt is correct: I did not buy the ring. I contacted Gabe Newell after it had been added in the Australian Christmas update to ask about it, and Valve's Eric Smith emailed back saying "we're working on it" ;)

Got the ring on Valentine's Day and had to pretend I knew nothing about it when Derek asked me if I saw the TF2 Valentine's Day release!